Archive for
November 21st, 2013

Ryan Kelly and Elias Harris have been recalled from the Los Angeles D-Fenders to the Los Angeles Lakers, it was announced today.

Kelly and Harris have both appeared twice for the Lakers this season. Kelly has recorded six points and two rebounds in his seven minutes of action and Harris has posted a rebound, an assist and a steal in his 11 minutes. They will both rejoin the Lakers for tomorrow night’s game versus the Golden State Warriors.

Here’s the Los Angeles Times blog reporting on some alleged details of that horrible thing called the NBA Lockout:

Former NBA players’ union executive director Billy Hunter has claimed that Lakers star Kobe Bryant and agent Rob Pelinka, acting on behalf of union president Derek Fisher, meddled with his efforts to end the 2011 lockout.

In a Los Angeles Superior Court filing Thursday that is part of his wrongful-termination lawsuit, Hunter stated that he received a call from Bryant and Pelinka the night before he was scheduled to meet with league officials in October 2011. According to Hunter, the player and his agent told him to agree to a 50-50 split of basketball-related income.

“On the phone call, Bryant told me to agree to the new CBA [collective bargaining agreement] at a 50-50 share of BRI, saying, ‘I know that tomorrow is a big day. You can put this thing to bed. Do the deal,’ and also telling me, ‘I got your back,’ ” Hunter said in the court filing. “What Bryant and Pelinka were telling me is that a 50-50 deal had already been completed behind my back.”

The Los Angeles Clippers today announced that forward Matt Barnes suffered a retinal tear in his left eye on Monday, Nov. 18 against the Memphis Grizzlies. Barnes will undergo a surgical procedure to repair the retina and is expected to miss a minimum of two weeks.

Barnes has appeared in eight games this season and is averaging 5.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 20.0 minutes per game.

The Sacramento Kings have assigned rookie guard Ray McCallum to the team’s NBA Development League affiliate, the Reno Bighorns, it was announced today by General Manager Pete D’Alessandro.

McCallum, selected in the second round (36th overall) of the 2013 NBA Draft, has not seen action in the Kings’ 11 games this season. He averaged 3.8 points, 1.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.20 steals and 12.2 minutes per game in five games off the bench for the Kings in the preseason. He is reunited with former Kings training camp players Brandon Heath, DeQuan Jones and Trent Lockett.

The Bighorns open the 2013-14 season with back-to-back games at Sioux Falls on Friday (November 22) and Saturday (November 23).

Here’s the South Florida Sun Sentinel on the Miami Heat offense sometimes including Chris Bosh out on the perimeter, where he is able to operate with success:

Bosh has made a 3-pointer in each of the past three games, 3 of 5 from beyond the arc in those three, the ball whipping around to him just as it has been to the Heat’s 3-point specialists.

“The ball will find him, in open areas, in open gaps,” Spoelstra said. “We use the term all the time, ‘The ball will find energy.’ And when he’s playing with that type of energy, the ball will find him.

“We’re not running necessarily plays for him. But you see him moving into open areas and he’s very skilled when he gets in those sweet spots of his.”

The Bulls announced Wednesday that shooting guard Jimmy Butler stayed behind in Chicago because of turf toe on his right big toe.

He was listed as week-to-week, but coach Tom Thibodeau didn’t want to start throwing timetables around.

“I don’t even want to speculate,’’ said Thibodeau, whose team begins a six-game road trip Thursday against the Nuggets. “He has to get the swelling out first.’’

The best-case scenario would be for Butler to be re-evaluated next week after the game against the Pistons and be ready for the Nov. 30 game against the Cavaliers, the last stop on the road trip, but he likely won’t play until at least a week or two into December.